Chapter 1604 An Siyuan
In any case, it is no longer useful to engage in public opinion wars. The relief statue of the general has been seized in the United States, and the auction has basically failed. Now the real ownership battle has begun. , China has taken the initiative in this lawsuit. Lu Lirong has to fight whether he wants to fight or not.
After the auctioned cultural relics were seized, Lu Lirongcai and his entrusted lawyer hurried from Hong Kong Island and claimed to the police and customs officers that the warrior reliefs were ancestral cultural relics and had a history of more than ten years.
But such an argument is completely untenable, because it is now 1994. Even if it has been owned for ten years, it was still 1984. After the "Cultural Relics Protection Law" came into effect, China fully has the right to recover right to claim.
And this "ten-year theory" itself is nonsense, because Zhou Zhi immediately proposed that the state of the accumulated earthen flowers on the cinnabar at the bottom of the warrior statue shows that this cultural relic was not unearthed for a long time, and it is not old at all. ten years.
In response to this point raised by Zhou Zhi, Lu Lirong argued that his elders used improper techniques when storing the warrior statues, which caused them to be in constant contact with the earthy ground. Therefore, the soil flowers accumulated in cinnabar at the bottom of the stone statues did not dissipate.
But what is most important is Lu Lirong’s defense, and he immediately brings up another detail, that is, in addition to the contact between the base of cultural relics and the soil, the formation of soil flowers also requires a stable and airtight environment. The current state of the warrior statue shows that Mr. Lu, your elder, controlled the sealing conditions, temperature and humidity conditions extremely perfectly when building the warehouse, which shows how much attention he paid to the storage environment. Such a warehouse is indispensable for various equipment. , and it will continue to operate for more than ten years, so the investment must be considerable.
But such a high-end warehouse does not have a floor, and it still uses an earth foundation directly. And such an important cultural relic is placed on the earth foundation like this?
When this article was revealed, Lu Lirong could no longer find a reason.
These confrontations inside and outside the court were quickly spread by people who were interested. The news of the seizure of cultural relics and the arguments between the two sides was quickly carried out by major media in the United States, Britain, New Zealand, Hong Kong and other places. It has been widely reported that no matter how Lu Lirong defends the examples cited by Zhou Zhi, his logic is no longer tenable. People are increasingly seeing the truth of the matter and are beginning to criticize the auction of stolen items.
In the art collection circles around the world, the purchase of stolen items has been going on privately, but openly it has been criticized by everyone. This behavior is despicable. The business of any art gallery involved in a credibility crisis will inevitably be Will be shocked.
At this time, the relevant parties in Hebei Province once again sent evidence including the same size of the relief and the traces left at the stolen site, and issued proof from archaeological experts to refute Lu Lirong's "ancestral legend".
After receiving further supplementary information, including eleven key supplementary evidences, including the second letter from the U.S. Embassy in China and the New York City Customs Bureau requesting China to supplement the soil samples around Wang Chuzhi’s tomb. , faced with irrefutable facts, the New State District Prosecutor's Office, under the supervision of Tony Huang, decided to prosecute Lu Lirong in accordance with the law, while Liang Pingyi participated in the lawsuit on behalf of the Chinese side.
China’s response to this incident was too fast. When Lu Lirong was still struggling to deal with the current stage of the problem, China quickly produced strong evidence to advance the matter to the next stage, allowing Lu Lirong was completely overwhelmed.
At this critical moment, Hou Zhongjin, a Hong Kong art broker, found Zhou Zhi and told him that the famous American collector Ellsworth wanted to see him.
Hou Zhongjin was Ellsworth's general agent on Hong Kong Island. In order to ensure that Ellsworth's "Chunhua Pavilion Poster" could be auctioned, Zhou Zhi attacked the island country's attempts by Eiichi Anzhai and Goro Sakamoto to intervene in the auction, and threw out Kukai's The Magna Nikki was up for grabs, and when Zhou Zhi explained to everyone his opinions on the authenticity of the Magna Nikki, he was also present, and even connected with Ellsworth, who was far away across the ocean, to attend.
The final appraisal opinion was also recognized by everyone. "Dainikkei" repeatedly set new auction highs at that auction. In the end, Anzhai and Sakamoto had to use some off-the-record tricks and use words to force them to do so. If you don't have enough time to keep bidding, you can win it.
Using the "Main Nikkei" as a cover, that time we won the "Chunhua Pavilion Post" for the country in a thorough and unobtrusive manner. The Chunhua Pavilion Post was transferred from An Siyuan's hands to the country. , finally collected in the National Museum. When it comes to private collectors of ancient oriental art, Ellsworth is a well-deserved master. He has been interested in collecting objects since he was a child. He started collecting Chinese stamps and gradually progressed to collecting snuff bottles. In 1960, he opened an Siyuan Gold Gallery operates the antique business and has gradually become the most authoritative international Asian art antique dealer. It is recognized as the most discerning and tasteful antique dealer and collector in the United States and even the entire Western art world. It is known as the "Godfather of Chinese Antiques" called.
Now Ellsworth has long since "retired" and only serves as the chief representative of Sotheby's Education Institute in China and a senior art market consultant. His Chinese collection was dominated by inscriptions and Ming Dynasty furniture, so when Hou Zhongjin came over and told Zhou Zhi that An Siyuan wanted to take the initiative to meet him, Zhou Zhi was really surprised and happy.
Even just having the opportunity to look at the collection in his hands is something Zhou Zhi dreams of.
An Siyuan is a master at picking up leaks, and these leaks are not limited to ancient works of art.
Such as his current residence.
In 1977, during the economic depression, Ellsworth bought a twenty-two-room apartment on Fifth Avenue in New York at a very low price and obtained the right to live in it. License to operate an antique business.
It is only a ten-minute walk from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and faces the famous Central Park. It is one of the three best properties in New York.
Over the past twenty years, the price of this property has increased countless times compared to when it was purchased.
Walking into this house, Zhou Zhi seems to have walked into a museum containing cultures from many countries. The decoration here is extremely luxurious and the style is extremely elegant. The walls are covered with antique wallpapers and oil paintings from Europe are hung in the aisles. There are traditional Western furniture on it, as well as porcelain, bronzes, and sculptures of various materials from Eastern China, India, island countries, and even Korea.
Many pieces of Chinese Ming Dynasty furniture are placed with various stone carvings, helmets, glassware, gold and silverware from Europe, Turkey, and Iran, and carpets from China and Persia are placed on the floor.
All these things are perfectly but slightly bizarrely combined. However, because of the owner's ingenuity, not only does there not be any aesthetic conflict, but it forms a kind of beauty precipitated by history. .
This is a completely different experience than being in a museum. Every antique and treasure is close at hand and within reach. Walking in the corridor seems to be walking in history, and this sense of history is often due to The utensils are too close and a bit "pressing". For people like Zhou Zhi who know their value, it is inevitable that they will not feel awe and worship.
I didn't understand the oil paintings on the wall, but the impact of the Chinese paintings on Zhou Zhi was already strong.